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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia December 28, 2022
Don’t live the
same year 75
times and call
it a life.
- Robin Sharina
News
BYTES
MLK Parade
The Annual MLK Pa
rade will be held on
January 16, 2023, at
11:00 a.m. The Grand
Marshall will be Wilson
Johnson. For more in
formation, contact Mi
chael Johnson at 478-
494-8253.
Legislative
Luncheon
State Rep. Leesa
Hagan and State Sen.
Blake Tillery are con
firmed speakers for the
Greater Vidalia Cham
ber's annual legislative
luncheon to be held
Thursday, January 5,
1:30 p.m„ at Lyons First
Baptist Church. U.S.
Representative Rick Al
len and U.S. Senator
Raphael Warnock may
also attend. Tickets are
$45. For information,
call 912-537-4466 or
email info@greatervi-
daliachamber.com.
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Editor’s Note: Looking back on the last 12 months reminds us of what we have endured and how much we have accomplished;
but more importantly, the experiences of the previous year provide a perspective for moving forward. In this article The Advance
revisits some of the headlines which defined the year.
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Area Overview
When 2022 dawned, we had just sur
vived a COVID pandemic only to see the
health threat re-emerge in a new variant.
The omicron virus, which succeeded the
delta variant, spiked by late January and
the area had the highest number of infec
tions seen throughout the two years of the
entire pandemic. Drive-through testing sites
again became a part of the landscape as the
virus surged, but the good news was that
this strain, while more easily spread, was of
shorter duration and considered generally
less deadly than previous viruses. By the first
of December, however, COVID was begin
ning to resurface and masks were again re
quired in medical facilities.
Despite the post-COVID economic
downturns plaguing most of the country,
Georgia, which never completely shut down
during the pandemic, came through the fray
with a sound economy. In fact, the state was
doing so well financially that when prices for
gasoline began to pinch drivers at the pump,
a state surplus enabled the state Legislature
to pass a measure temporarily suspend
ing the state fuel sales tax which Governor
Kemp has extended several times to give
motorists a break.
Throughout the area, there were signs
of growth and prosperity as new projects
were underway, including construction of
a county courthouse, a regional library, a
Please see 2022 page 2A
MoCo Commission Approves $1.2M
Contract for Sheriffs Office Upgrade
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
The Montgomery County
Commission, in its regular ses
sion on December 12, awarded
a bid and contact to C. Merrill
Construction, LLC, of States
boro, for the amount of $ 1,2 mil
lion for additions and modifica
tions to the Sheriff’s Office on
East Broad Street in downtown
Mount Vernon.
The Commission also ap
proved transferring $400,000
from the General Fund to the
County’s Capital Project Fund
to finance Public Safety building
projects.
In other business, the Com
mission adopted a resolution
for a USDA Rural Development
Loan to purchase a John Deere
tractor with a grant amount of
$27,400. The Commission ad
opted a second resolution for a
USDARural Development Loan
to finance the tractor with a loan
amount of $50,900, to cover the
vehicle’s full purchase price.
The Commissioners con
ducted the first reading of a
resolution to amend a section of
Please see MoCo page 5A
Georgia
Power
Rate Hike
Approved
Lyons Roundabout
To Begin January 3
ROUNDABOUT PATTERN BEGINS - Beginning on January 3, traffic flow will change af the inter
section of NW Broad Street and Oxley Drive to follow the roundabout pattern of the roadway,
as construction workers finish building the inside circle of the intersection.
Traffic along NW Broad
Street (Highway 292) and
Oxley Drive in Lyons will see
a new pattern of traffic begin
ning January 3, as motorists
will now travel the roundabout
pattern while construction
workers finish building the in
ner circle of the intersection.
According to McLen
don Enterprises Representa
tive Tim Adams, this change
in traffic patterns will allow
drivers to get used to the new
flow of traffic, while also giv
ing the construction workers
Please see Lyons page 9A
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
The state Public Service Com
mission (PSC) approved a $1.8 bil
lion rate increase requested by Geor
gia Power Tuesday that embraced
most of an agreement between the
agency’s staff and the company pre
sented last week.
Commissioners slightly low
ered the upper limit on profits Geor
gia Power will be allowed to keep
and sweetened incentives to be of
fered to encourage the development
of solar energy and the deployment
of electric vehicle charging stations.
But the PSC stopped short of more
far-reaching changes proposed by
Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” Mc
Donald, who provided the lone op
position in Tuesday’s 4-1 vote.
The $1.8 billion rate hike -
down from Georgia Power’s original
Please see Rate page 5A